Hand held implements which are capable of functioning as a vacuum or as a blower are popularly used by gardeners and by outdoor maintenance personnel. They customarily include a fractional horsepower gasoline engine which turns an impeller. The impeller generates an air stream that is used for blowing or vacuuming purposes.
A blower pipe can be connected to the output port of the impeller to direct the air stream to blow leaves and debris in the blower mode, or a collection bag can be attached to it to receive detritus which is gathered in the vacuum mode.
In the blower mode, the intake port to the impeller is suitably shrouded to protect the operator. In the vacuum mode a large diameter, elongated vacuum pipe is connected to the intake port. Its free end is moved along the ground to pick up detritus. The flow direction of the air stream is the same in both modes of operation, but for each mode, different devices such as pipes or the collection bag are connected to the appropriate port, and they must resist the physical contacts to which they are subject.
Such an arrangement is shown in Tuggle patent No. 4,674,146, issued June 23, 1987, which patent is incorporated herein by reference to its showing of a hand held convertible vacuum/blower for these purposes. In the Tuggle device the connection is made by means of a collar which surrounds the port, and a clamp which surrounds the collar and compresses it against the pipe or against the neck of the bag to hold it in place. A vacuum/blower with this arrangement has in fact enjoyed wide sales acceptance. However, applicant has found that a peripheral clamp connection is more subject to unintentional disengagement than it should be. While no harm is done, it is an inconvenience to have to stop the implement and reassemble it.
It is an object of this invention to overcome this disadvantage of the peripheral clamp joinder. In so doing it has been kept in mind that this implement fits into an acoustic niche where costs and complexity must be minimized.
Accordingly it is another object of this invention to provide connector means which is expedient and economical, as well as more reliable.